This week that love, affection and support has been directed towards Wayne and Rachel Eve, and their young son, of Axe Creek.

Last Saturday they lost their home - and Wayne barely escaped with his life - after a tornado touched down during wild storms.

The fury of the twister (classed as an EF2 on the Enhanced Fujita scale) destroyed their home, but within hours the wider Bendigo community had jumped into action.

That support grew when a GoFundMe page was set up, with the public donating small and large amounts to help the Eves get through the long haul of rebuilding their life.

We tracked the tally as it quickly passed an initial figure of $20,000 to the current amount of more than $36,000.

Journalist Elspeth Kernebone caught up with the Eves to find out how they were coping nearly a week after the twister touched down. She found that the backing from family, friends, neighbours and complete strangers has been amazing.

And while the Eves were sad to lose their beautiful home, the sense of community has cemented their determination to stay and rebuild. "You couldn't dream for as good as neighbours as we've got there," Wayne said.

Yes, there's a lot of good hearts and helping hands in central Victoria.

We've also had some other big news this week - check out some of these stories below.

Have a great week.

Juanita Greville

Deputy Editor